It is believed three East Africa states declined to vote for Kenya's Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Ambassador Amina Mohammed, for the Africa Union Commission (AUC) chairperson post.
During elections held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the 28th African Union Summit, Djibouti, Burundi and Uganda voted for Chad's Moussa Faki Mahamat, leading to his win.
The three countries voted for Kenya in round one, helping Amina get 16 votes against Mahamat’s 14.
''The rest of the votes were split between Botswana and Equatorial Guinea,'' reports the Daily Nation.
In the second round, Chad scored 21, with Kenya gaining one more vote. The rest went to the three tailing candidates.
Mahamat, extended his lead in the third round of voting, getting 24 votes against Amina's 17.
Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti had decamped in support for the father of six.
In round four, Kenya gained some momentum, getting 26 against Chad’s 25. This is after other candidates were compelled to drop out.
When voting entered round five, one country abstained, with Kenya winning with 27 votes against Chad’s 26.
The vote entered the sixth round. Chad gained again, collecting 28 votes against Kenya's 25.
Technically, Amina had been defeated. The Chadian garnered 38 votes when he ran alone in the seventh round.
Fifteen countries from the Southern Africa Bloc (SADC), abstained from the hotly contested elections which saw the 56-years-old Chad Foreign Affairs Minister garner 38 votes against Amina's 27 after seven rounds of voting.
He will be deputised by Thomas Kwesi Quartey, from Ghana.
Kenya had spend close to Sh350 million to mobilise Africa nations to support Amina's candidature.